The BBC Games Archive - digital memories

4Mation

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An educational software company, but who can forget their classic Grannies Garden, which nearly everyone who has been to a primary school in England has played this at some time or another! All their games are written using Mode 7 teletext, for easiness on small kids eyes.

4Mation actually still exist and they still offer a version of Grannies Garden for the PC - perfect for those who grew up with the game to pass on the classic to a new generation! Visit them at www.4mation.co.uk.

Please contact me if you have any additional information about the company or its games!

Box Of Treasurers

Released:

Author: Unknown

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Interesting adventure game, this is more of a straight up adventure than their other games - although still aimed at children. You have to travel from place to place with the right objects to use them, its pretty simplistic stuff and somehow lacks the character and charm of Flowers of Crystal, Grannys Garden and Dragon World. It's not bad though and the production quality is still high.

Bush Rescue

Released:

Author: Unknown

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More advanced game, this is a break from the traditional teletext graphics. It is probably aimed at older children as it has elements of plotting courses, co-ordinates etc. You have to rescue people from the bush using a helicopter to find them. The graphics are nice, and while it doesnt compare to their games for younger children, it is still fairly entertaining.

Dinosaur Island

Released:

Author: Unknown

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Interesting adventure game - this is much more detailed than their usual style, it is presented in high res graphics, with pictures for locations etc. This game has none of the humour of the other adventures, it must be aimed at older kids - but it does have the same good mix of fun and learning. Usually when you move somewhere in this adventure you have to solve a word puzzle or use logic to solve the game. Well worth a look, but not a classic.

Dragon World

Released:

Author: Unknown

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Another excellent title, this is based at younger children, probably around the age of those that Grannies Garden was intended for - this is a language based game. Like most of their games this has two parts, the first you have to get 5 of Ogweb the dragons teeth in order to get to dragon world, you have to do this by solving riddles - some of them took me ages to work out and I'm 21!!! In the second part you have to find 5 treasures, this is a bit less of a learning exercise, although it does have you matching animals to tasks. The nice thing about the end is that the treasures are much better than those you have to find in most games! Good game all round with their usually funky Mode 7 effects.

Flowers Of Crystal

Released:

Author: Unknown

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This is a kind of unofficial 'Grannys Garden 2' - it doesnt use the same characters but it is longer, and more difficult. This game has 2 parts to it, in the first part you are Super Jim and you have to find 4 treasures to complete the game. Then in part two you have to find the Flower of Crystal, you do this by finding the 6 parts of the flower dream. The effects in this game are excellent, and it has a nice blend of story-telling and educational value.

Grannys Garden

Released:

Author: Unknown

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Their most famous game, this was all about exploring, feeding dragons, and basically improving your reading skills :-). The graphics are good for mode 7, and suffers from the setback that if you are over 9 years old then you will most definitly find this game a doddle! However, this is a classic game which is engrained in the memory of anyone who went to primary school probably between 1983-1992, and there aren't many games that can have that kind of longevity.